The United Nations is nearing getting enough donations to handle a potential environmental disaster off the coast of Yemen.

HSA Group, Yemen’s largest private company, has become the first private sector organisation to donate to the emergency FSO SAFER appeal.

HSA Group’s $1.2m contribution will go towards the UN’s $80m target to fund an emergency operation to remove over 1m barrels of oil from the decaying, stranded tanker and safely transfer it to another vessel. To date, the UN has received $64m in pledges from over a dozen governments.

The FSO SAFER has been moored off Yemen’s Red Sea coast for over 30 years. The vessel has recently deteriorated beyond repair and could disintegrate or explode at any time, with its oil cargo spilling into the Red Sea. The FSO SAFER has 157,000 tonnes of crude onboard. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez was merely carrying around 35,000 tonnes when it met with disaster.

Nabil Hayel Saeed Anam, managing director, HSA Group – Yemen region, said: “A spill on the scale projected by the UN would have a devastating impact on Yemen. It would aggravate the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, threaten millions with starvation, and destroy livelihoods. It would also be an unimaginable ecological catastrophe.”

Anam said he hoped that this first donation from the private sector would serve to encourage other companies across the world to contribute.